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querulous

UK/ˈkwɛɹ(j)ʊləs/US/ˈkwɛɹ(j)ələs/
adjectiveC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechToo rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Querulous means complaining in a whining tone. A querulous letter.

The complaint may be justified and the tone is what the word objects to. Querulous is used of a voice more often than of a person, which softens it slightly.

Definitions of querulous

  1. 1adjectivequerulousComplaining in a whining tone.C2

    “The querulous note in his voice made everybody stop listening.”

querulous is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin querulus, from queri, to complain, the root of quarrel and querulousness alike.

  1. Latin

    querulōsus

  2. Old French

    querelos

  3. English, today

    querulous

Built from

  • queror · Latin — to complain

From Old French querelos, from Latin querulōsus, from Latin querulus, from queror (“to complain”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

querulous in the wild

  • Making querulous squeaks, the rats entered the Challenger expedition's tents and shelters in 1886, ran over sleepers, and upset everything in the search and fight for food.

    Maclear's rat

  • Born in San Pio delle Camere, L'Aquila, Casilio was quite active between 1952 and 1960, usually filling roles as a querulous and naive small-town girl.

    Maria Pia Casilio

  • The wife is querulous and domineering, the husband philosophical.

    Come Into the Garden, Maud (play)

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.